Keen Sight
She remembered little beyond the pain. Irineis Lavellan blinked slowly, confused by the feeling of jagged rock under her hands, and the fact that she was lying prone at all. Hadn't she been standing, just moments ago? In a church of some kind, a human building?
Run while you can! Warn them!
The words from the old woman—the Divine—shot through the Dalish Elf like one of the arrow-heads she was so accustomed to piercing through her prey. She pushed herself to her feet, shaking, to behold something horrible beyond words.
The Fade. She was in the Fade.
And, from the sound of scurrying and the ravenous clicking of fangs, she was not alone. She saw hulking spiders approach, the stuff of nightmares. She reached for her bow, blue eyes narrowing, only for them to widen in horror when her weapon was nowhere to be found. Irineis knew with cold certainty that she was going to die—if that hadn't happened already, of course, and she just didn't know it yet.
Every muscle in her body urged her to run, but instead she fell to her knees and clasped her hands in prayer. She felt some force compelling her, an urgency beyond her ability to comprehend.
"Andruil," she whispered, as the beasts drew closer. "Please, hear me. If you can, aid me. You've helped me so many times before. Please don't abandon me now. Please."
Her hand flared and crackled with green light, power seething through it. Irineis screamed in pain, her eyes closing reflexively. A sound reached her ears dimly, through the haze in her mind, like blades slicing so sharply through flesh that only a whisper is heard as they pass. When she finally opened her eyes again, the spiders were nothing more than corpses, transitioning to green energy and floating away. Standing before her was an elvhen lady, with no marks on her face, holding a bow in one hand and a dagger in the other. Her hair was pale white, her eyes a deep blue that twinkled with mirth and reminded Irineis of clear skies and pleasant days, taking a break from her hunt to enjoy the forest around her.
She wanted to go home.
"I will not abandon you," the elvhen said, kneeling, and reaching out a kind hand. "Take my hand, and be at ease. Rest. Your job is done, my child."
Irineis had many questions, but she couldn't bring herself to form the words. She reached out for the woman's hand, and all was darkness.
"They're fighting up ahead! We need to help them!"
"Who's fighting?" The elf asked, surprised that the human—Cassandra—had yet to comment on her lack of vallaslin. Although, with a Breach that large open in the sky, it was understandable.
"You'll see soon enough."
The elf drew an arrow to her bow, loosing the shot and sending a Shade back into the Void. Cassandra arched an eyebrow.
"Nicely done."
"I've had some practice," the elf said, allowing herself a smirk. "Let's keep moving," she finished, her mouth a thin line once more.
The biting of the cold was more refreshing than it had ever felt before. Thousands of years in darkness and almost-silence, barring the endless pitiful ranting of Elgar'nan and a few of the other malcontents.
Oh, vhenan, she thought to herself, why did you betray us?
The pair continued on, the elvhen's feet moving so swiftly over the snow that almost no mark was left of her passing, and even Cassandra had to work to keep up. And then they came over the last rise, and the elvhen's tread stopped completely, along with the breath in her throat.
It was him. Just as she'd always remembered, calm and powerful, seething with menace hidden so artfully that it had fooled the Gods themselves… and led to their ruin.
Her ruin.
The elvhen woman stilled the beating of her heart and notched an arrow to her bow, loosing shot after shot until the small group of demons had been banished. Solas saw her then, and his eyes spoke a thousand years worth of words in a heartbeat.
She had nothing for him in reply, raising her hand and using the energy from the green mark to close the tear.
"That was… fortunate," the dwarf with the crossbow said at last into the silence that was quickly becoming oppressive. "Thanks for the save, uh…"
"Irineis," the elf said easily, smiling. "Irineis Lavellan. That was some nice shooting…?"
"Varric. Varric Tethras," the dwarf finished for her, extending a hand in greeting. The elf took it and smiled. "You weren't so bad out there yourself, Lavellan."
"I learned from a great teacher," she said, giving Solas a glance that made his expression contort with the most gratifying discomfort. The exchange didn't pass Cassandra by, but she said nothing about it. She cleared her throat instead, aware that the usually-talkative elvhen apostate wasn't going to break the silence himself.
"We should keep moving. The forward camp is still a ways away."
"Let's go, then," 'Irineis' said, falling into step beside Solas.
"How are you here?" he asked her in flawless high Ancient Elvhen, refusing to meet her eyes.
"That's your opener? Really, vhenan? All these years and that's what I get?"
"Answer the question."
Andruil smirked.
"Not until you ask nicely."
Solas grimaced.
"Please."
"Better. There was a Dalish elf who stumbled into the Fade. Seemed to have gotten her hands on your foci, somehow. She was doomed. She called out to me, and I offered her an end to her suffering. She accepted, and I took her body as a vessel. Regrettable, but necessary. It seems like you left quite a mess to clean up this time, vhenan."
"Don't call me that."
Andruil's smiling eyes darkened, their blue shifting to stormy.
"Because it hurts? Now the one who would never tell a lie asks me to hide the truth? Shameful, Solas."
"What we had… it ended when I erected the Veil. Everything ended."
"Clearly, not as definitively as you had hoped. But why leave us alive at all, if not to give us a chance? That's what the mark is for, isn't it? This anchor?"
Solas was quiet for several heartbeats, and Varric filled the silence by joking—as much as he could, anyway—with Cassandra.
"It is," Solas said at last, "but not yet. We have bigger problems to contend with at the moment."
"Yes, the Magister," Andruil replied. "I saw as much when I scoured the Fade for answers while this body slept. When will you learn not to trust to chance, Dread Wolf? Only a well-aimed arrow is ever worth letting fly. You know this."
"What's done is done," Solas said curtly, finally meeting her eyes again. He managed a small, melancholy smile.
"It is good to see you again, vhenan."
Andruil smiled in kind, and then sighed.
"One of these days," she said as she notched an arrow to her bow and Solas readied his staff, intent on an approaching cluster of demons, "I'll learn how to say 'no' to you."
"You didn't for a thousand years and more," Solas replied, "but I suppose every day brings new chances with it."
Andruil was quiet in the aftermath of the skirmish, only speaking after the group had walked several more paces.
"I never wanted what we did to our mother, you know."
"I do," Solas said. Then he smiled. "Why do you think your shackles were lighter than all the other pairs? Do you think I would've let you answer that Dalish's call otherwise?"
Andruil stared at Solas in open shock for a few moments, before barking out a laugh that caused Cassandra and Varric to start with surprise.
"I should've guessed," she said, before her eyes clouded with doubt once more. "The others—you do wish to free them, yes?"
"I said as much, did I not?"
"You did. But… I don't think they'll be too pleased with you, to put it lightly."
Solas smiled.
"We'll deal with them, vhenan. Together."
Andruil found herself smiling, torn between resentment, admiration, and something deeper. He always had possessed a gift for persuasion, above all else.
One of these days, she thought to herself, I'll say no. But not today.
…
…
A/N: Yeah, so, short and sweet, but I had to get this out there. Trespasser was a lore mindbomb par excellence, and I had to write something dealing with it. I doubt this'll be continued, unless a lot of people really want me to, but it was fun! I hope you all enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!